This invention relates to improvements in the production of retortable alimentary paste products including such items as pasta (i.e. spaghetti and noodles), tortillas and the like which are heat processed. More particularly this invention relates to the preparation of paste products which require increased cooking tolerance and which provide food products with improved firmness after being cooked at super atmospheric pressure.
Consumers have varying opinions based on personal prejudices and traditions as to the desired qualities a paste product such as pasta should possess. It is generally accepted, however, that pasta should have the following characteristics: a yellow colour, smooth surface, and a resistance to cooking; and after cooking the pasta should be non-sticking and non-clumping with a good "bite", without being either too elastic or too soft.
The term "al dente" is used to describe a commonly desired texture and cook of pasta. Al dente can be defined as being slightly firm with a bite or slight resistance to chewing. Upon cooking pasta in boiling water, the texture of the product will change from firm (undercooked) to slightly firm with a good bite (al dente) to soft and tender and finally to mushy and sticky (overcooked).
In recent years as the use of prepared and processed foods has become more prevalent, a demand has risen for foods having properties specially adapted to the requirements of industrial processing. In general, food systems containing various farinaceous-based paste products are deleteriously affected when retorted. Such products exhibit over-cooked characteristics such as being soft and mushy with a poor mouthfeel in comparison to similar products which have been cooked by other means such as boiling or baking. For example, currently marketed canned enchiladas, which are corn tortillas stuffed with meat or various fillings, have a tendency to lose their shape and rip apart while being reheated in a saucepan by consumers. The retorted tortilla dough is not firm enough to remain intact upon reheating.
A study by Dexter et al. appearing in Cereal Chemistry, Vol. 56, No. 3 (1979), pps. 190-195 indicated that high amylose corn starch imparts a slight improvement in cooked spaghetti firmness. The study, however, also concluded that other starch properties may supersede amylose content in imparting cooking quality once a threshold level of amylose is obtained.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide firm textured paste products with improved cooking tolerance to retort conditions.
It is another object to provide an improved process for preparing retortable paste products.